


When Grey and Amber Eyes Turn Golden

by UpDownLeftGone



Category: Persona 4
Genre: M/M, alternate bad ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-26 18:44:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20394403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpDownLeftGone/pseuds/UpDownLeftGone
Summary: They messed up.They messed up so badly.What do you say to someone who's just caused the world's demise?





	When Grey and Amber Eyes Turn Golden

**Author's Note:**

> Largely inspired by [ Goodbye to a World - Porter Robinson ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2TE0DjdNqI)

They messed up. 

They messed up so badly.

The lingering sting from battle was a reminder of what the group had been through mere moments ago. Or maybe it was hours ago, who knew at this point? Yosuke didn’t even want to open his eyes. Where was he, anyways? A mist seemed to envelope him, it was as if he was right on the edge of the sea during a storm. The light perspiration stuck to his clothes, his hair, and his skin. It almost seemed to absorb into him. What was it?

Ah, yea, of course. Fog. No normal fog or anything, not low lying clouds in the sea of an early morning commute. No, this was the kind that clouded both sight and people. The kind that would envelope Inaba after days of rain, only leaving behind dead bodies and a strong feeling of unease. The fog that seemed to bring out the worst in people, their shadow side, even. 

What happened when you turned into a shadow, anyways? The goddess told them her plan, it seemed impossible. But, then again, so did going from shadow to human, and Teddie had proved them wrong on that front. Whos to say the opposite couldn't happen? What did Teddie say about his time as a shadow again? He was wandering, lost, couldn’t even remember? Are shadows even conscious beings? 

Was that his fate?

Was that the whole team’s fate?

Was this the end?

Would he rather die?

He never thought he’d have to think about it. The idea of them losing this badly had never come to mind, they were even sure they’d won for awhile. The fog was gone from Inaba, they defeated Adachi, they defeated Ameno-sagiri. They had won. It should have been the end, it just should have. But, no, there was somehow  _ more.  _ A situation with all on the line even after they had come so far, and they had lost. 

All that was left was for Yosuke to accept his fate. Alone. Somewhere in the shadow world - or maybe it was Inaba? Not like there was much of a difference anymore. 

He laid there with his eyes closed, his memory getting hazy, his mind in a sea of fog. The Investigation Team, Inaba and Tokyo, Yasogami High, music, Yukiko and kimonos, Chie and steak, Naoto and case files, Teddie and topsicles, Kanji and dolls, Rise and idols - all of it was fading. Names were missing. Faces gone, voices forgotten-

“Yosuke?” A voice. One he hadn’t heard in forever.

“Yosuke?! Sit up, please.” A hand, lightly touching his arm. 

He opened his eyes, which immediately stung with the introduction of the otherworldly mist. He couldn’t see two feet ahead of him, the world was grey, grey, and grey. He couldn’t even see himself. It was all grey, grey, grey.

“Yosuke…?”

His head panned over, looking towards where the hand was touching his invisible arm. He was met with grey and only grey. Fog, mist, all around, it felt hopeless, he found himself closing his eyes once more until- There was a light in a section of the grey. Two lights, still grey but brighter. They were going in and out of existence, almost as if they were blinking. Little golden flakes attached themselves to part of the lights, clouded by fog…

...eyes. Those were eyes. Familiar grey eyes, slowly turning gold. 

“Yosuke… no.” The voice. It was a voice he knew. 

Souji. 

Souji Seta. 

Partner. 

Inaba. The Investigation Team. Izanami. 

Yosuke found himself feeling lighter at the realization, taking in a gulp of air as if he had never breathed before in his life and suddenly sitting up. He heard Souji let out a relieved breath, his hand becoming heavier on Yosuke’s arm. 

“Here. Stand up.” Souji felt his way down to Yosuke’s hand, helping him onto his feet. Yosuke didn’t dare let go. 

They stood in silence for a second. A second wasted. The golden flakes had slowed down once Yosuke was standing, but there was still a new spot shining the hideous color with every blink on his partner’s eyes.

“Partner?” Yosuke found his voice.

“Hum?” Souji responded, Yosuke couldn’t even make out his lips moving. 

“... we fucked up, didn’t we?”

There was a pause. 

“Yeah.”

“We’re… going to turn into shadows now, aren’t we?”

“... yeah.” 

“Where… where’s the rest of the group?” Yosuke regret asking as soon as the words left his mouth.

The grey and gold eyes turned away for a moment. “They. They already…”

Oh.

_ Oh no. _

“... and it’s my fault. I should have- I shouldn’t of- I should have burned that letter. We shouldn’t be here. I- I-.”

Yosuke had seen Souji break down exactly once before, right after they almost lost Nanako. He felt up to Souji’s shoulder with his free hand, then wrapped him in a hug, grey strands of hair coming close enough for him to see. 

“Don’t say stuff like that, partner.” He felt Souji bury his head in his neck, hot tears fighting with the mist on his shoulder. “That kind of thinking is how this place gets you. You can’t think like that. You can’t blame yourself. There’s no use, anyways. What’s done is done and while it’s not okay...” Yosuke trailed off and bit his lip. What exactly do you say to someone who just failed at saving the world anyways? “We uh, we tried our best, right?” After no response, Yosuke sighed, retreating to just being a shoulder for Souji to mourn on. Really, it was all he could do.

It took a few minutes before Souji stopped sobbing, but Yosuke still didn’t dare let go. Souji didn’t seem to be in a rush either. It was like they would lose each other if they stopped hanging onto each other, only holding onto consciousness from each other's touch. 

Yosuke’s vision was mostly gold now. Grey fog through a golden lense. 

He didn’t want to know what his eyes looked like. He didn’t want to know what Souji’s eyes looked like. He didn’t want to know how much time they had left.

“Can we stay like this?” Yosuke nearly whispered.

He felt Souji nod into his shoulder. 

Yosuke closed his eyes, finally realizing what he wanted to say. “You know, I just wanna say, I don’t have regrets. We failed and yeah, the world’s probably gonna be all shadows now, but we tried. If we didn’t try, then what would have happened? The same thing, probably.”

He felt Souji squeeze him a little bit harder. 

“And, honestly, this past year has been the best of my life.” Yosuke could feel himself tearing up now. “E-even with everything that happened. I-I don’t regret it. I just- I guess I want you to know that.”

“Yosuke?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I love you.” There was no hesitation in the words. 

Yosuke felt some tension he didn’t know he’d been holding onto leave his shoulders. He buried his face into Souji’s shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut. “I love you too.” 

They stayed like that, holding each other. They stayed until they both lost the war within their minds to their fate. They stayed until they forgot their own names. They stayed until the world of fog seemed peaceful.

They stayed until they forgot the person next to them. 

They stayed until there was nothing left.

They stayed until grey and amber eyes turned golden.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting on the metaphorical google drive shelf for a long time. I haven't had the chance to write much recently and I'm running out of story backstock lol. Glad I'm finally getting around to posting some of my old stuff though, I know it doesn't seem like much but I wanna try posting at least once a month for now (if that hasn't been to evident for the past 3 months), maybe once every two weeks if I get the time. Looking forward to taking an actual creative writing class next semester though so ya might hear a lot more from me in 2020 ;;
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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